kowtowing 1 of 2

adjective

Definition of kowtowingnext
as in subordinate

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

kowtowing

2 of 2

verb

present participle of kowtow
as in fussing
to use flattery or the doing of favors in order to win approval especially from a superior you can try kowtowing to the boss, but he'll see right through you

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for kowtowing
  1. subordinate
  2. servile
  3. obsequious
  4. subservient
  5. slavish
  6. obedient
  7. submissive
  8. docile
Adjective
  • The social critique was still in there but subordinate to these rich, comically flawed characters, each getting something like their own book.
    Adam Moss, Vulture, 25 Nov. 2024
  • The four-star Army general in charge of U.S. Central Command is under investigation on allegations of pushing a subordinate service member during a recent trip to the Middle East, according to three U.S. officials familiar with the investigation.
    Courtney Kube, NBC News, 31 Oct. 2024
Definition of subordinate
Adjective
  • His co-stars, like Will Ferrell’s savage Mugatu, Owen Wilson’s stoner hottie Hansel, and Nathan Lee Graham’s servile Todd — all so precise and well-defined in the original’s ravelike milieu — are doomed to retrace their old steps here.
    Sean Malin, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2024
  • These officials could, in turn, redistribute some of their private goods among their own servile lieutenants, but the monarch retained ultimate power to grant or revoke their privileged status.
    Serhiy Kudelia, Foreign Affairs, 27 Feb. 2014
Definition of servile
Adjective
  • What was criminal in the eyes of Putin and occasioned Navalny’s death was his work exposing the tyrant, his obsequious oligarchs and lickspittle party United Russia as crooks, thieves and killers.
    Bruce Fein, Baltimore Sun, 15 Nov. 2024
  • Sunny initially speaks in an obsequious ChatGPT-generic tone, but the robot gradually adopts Suzie’s speech patterns, softening Suzie’s initial skepticism.
    Kyle Chayka, The New Yorker, 20 Nov. 2024
Definition of obsequious
Adjective
  • This sci-fi film takes viewers to a near future where our main character Nick (Michele Morrone), a construction foreman struggling to manage his family while his wife Maggie (Madeline Zima) battles a serious illness, turns to a subservient robot named Alice (played by Fox) for help.
    Travis Bean, Forbes, 7 Dec. 2024
  • Male fantasies à la the movie Her abound, centered around a subservient love interest with no bodily or emotional needs of her own.
    Emily Watlington, ARTnews.com, 27 Nov. 2024
Definition of subservient
Adjective
  • Yet in Kim’s slavish dedication to the Jeju haenyeo’s testimony, many questions that arise in this setting are left unexplored.
    Geoffrey Bunting, Rolling Stone, 11 Oct. 2024
  • By the beginning of 1956, some American communists openly blamed the poor state of their party on Moscow’s ideological inflexibility—and their own leaders’ slavish obedience to Soviet officials.
    Jeremy Friedman, Foreign Affairs, 17 July 2024
Definition of slavish
Adjective
  • Anyone who meets the gentle, obedient boy would never call him that.
    Bebe Hodges, USA TODAY, 15 Nov. 2024
  • Of course, anyone who meets the gentle, obedient boy would never call him that.
    Bebe Hodges, The Enquirer, 11 Nov. 2024
Definition of obedient
Adjective
  • Alice is Zoey’s domme — the dominant partner in the relationship — and Zoey is the sub, or submissive.
    Kayla Levy, Curbed, 11 Dec. 2024
  • Women were expected to be apologetic and submissive.
    Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, 11 Dec. 2024
Definition of submissive
Adjective
  • Lead actor Nathan Meister returns to the role of Henry Oldfield, the sheep-phobic son of a farmer who discovers his twisted older brother has been carrying out dangerous genetic experiences on his livestock, which transform them from docile vegetarians to ruthless, carnivorous killers.
    Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 5 Nov. 2024
  • What maybe gets forgotten is that the Old Course was especially docile that week.
    Brendan Quinn, The Athletic, 18 July 2024
Definition of docile
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Thesaurus Entries Near kowtowing

kowtowed

kowtowing

kowtows

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Kowtowing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/kowtowing. Accessed 23 Dec. 2024.

Copy Citation

Share

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See All

Point of View: It's Personal

Plural and Possessive Names: A Guide

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Words You Always Have to Look Up
See All

Popular in Wordplay

See All

8 Words with Fascinating Histories

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments

Birds Say the Darndest Things

10 Words from Taylor Swift Songs (Merriam's Version)

10 Scrabble Words Without Any Vowels
See All

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
naughty or nice
Are you naughty or nice? Quiz He's making a quiz, and checking it twice...